Abstract:

A system for proactively marketing job openings via an employment
clearinghouse in communication with employers and outreach organizations
serving potential employees is provided. The employment clearinghouse
provides information and services related to employment; receives one or
more job openings from an employer; geocodes the one or more job openings
to determine a location for each of the one or more job openings;
determines, for each of the one or more job openings, one or more
outreach organizations within a predetermined distance of the location
determined for the job opening; and presents the received one or more job
openings to the one or more determined outreach organizations.

Claims:

1. A method for proactively marketing job openings, comprising:receiving
data about one or more job openings;geocoding the data about the one or
more job openings to determine a location for each of the one or more job
openings;determining, for each of the one or more job openings, one or
more outreach organizations within a predetermined distance from the
location determined for the job opening; andpresenting the received data
about the one or more job openings to the one or more determined outreach
organizations.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein geocoding the data about the one or more
job openings further comprises:using an address portion of the received
data for a first job opening to determine a corresponding latitude and
longitude; andstoring the latitude and longitude with the address portion
of the received data for the first job opening.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:displaying a map of the
locations of the one or more job openings and the one or more outreach
organizations.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more outreach organizations
include at least one of:a non-profit organization, a for profit
organization, a government funded organization, a job service, a
faith-based organization, a welfare organization, an ethnic-focused
organization, a government agency, an organization providing services to
disabled individuals, and an organization providing services to seniors.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:reporting the determined
outreach organizations to an employer associated with the one or more job
openings.

6. A system for proactively marketing job openings via an employment
clearinghouse in communication with employers and outreach organizations
serving potential employees, the employment clearinghouse comprising:a
public access section for providing information and services related to
employment; anda community section for:receiving one or more job openings
from an employer;geocoding the one or more job openings to determine a
location for each of the one or more job openings;determining, for each
of the one or more job openings, one or more outreach organizations
within a predetermined distance of the location determined for the job
opening; andpresenting the received one or more job openings to the one
or more determined outreach organizations.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the community section further comprises
a job openings list, a create new job openings tool, and reporting tools.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the job openings list includes
information about one or more existing job openings, and the information
about the one or more existing job openings includes job titles and job
descriptions for current job postings.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the create a new job opening tool
creates a new job opening using information including one or more of: the
name of the potential employer, a client code, a unit number, a phone
number, a fax number, a contact name, a contact email, an interview site,
a number of openings, a position, an hourly wage, weekly hours, job
benefits, shift, a job title, a job description, application process
information, a link to the employers website, license requirements,
affirmative action goals, and comments.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the reporting tools include one or more
of: outreach notification report, outreach submission report, resource
directory report, all employer activity reports, activity by employers
reports, activity by state reports, employers within radius of outreach
organization reports, outreach organizations with missing or incorrect
data reports, and outreach organization use reports.

11. The system of claim 6, wherein geocoding the one or more job openings
further comprises:using an address portion of the received data for a
first job opening to determine a corresponding latitude and longitude;
andstoring the latitude and longitude with the address portion of the
received data for the first job opening.

12. The system of claim 6, wherein the community section further displays
a map of the locations of the one or more job openings and the one or
more outreach organizations.

13. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more outreach organizations
include at least one of:a non-profit organization, a for profit
organization, a government funded organization, a job service, a
faith-based organization, a welfare organization, an ethnic-focused
organization, a government agency, an organization providing services to
disabled individuals, and an organization providing services to seniors.

14. A computer readable medium with computer readable code embodied
therein for providing employment services, the computer readable code,
when executed, causing a processor to perform the steps of:receiving data
about a job opening from an employer, the data including a preference
indicator of a desired employee type;determining location information of
the job opening based on the received data;identifying, based on the
preference indicator and the location information, an outreach
organization related to potential employees of the desired employee
type;facilitating outreach to potential employees of the desired employee
type via the identified outreach organization.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 14, the steps further
comprising:reporting the outreach to the employer.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the identifying
further comprises determining location information of the outreach
organization.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the outreach
organization is one of:a non-profit organization, a for profit
organization, a government funded organization, a job service, a
faith-based organization, a welfare organization, an ethnic-focused
organization, a government agency, an organization providing services to
disabled individuals, and an organization providing services to seniors.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 14, the steps further
comprising:displaying a map of the job opening and the outreach
organization.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 14, the steps further
comprising:compiling a list of outreach organizations related to
potential employees;coding each outreach organization according to the
employee type served by the outreach organization; andenabling the
employer to designated the coding of desired outreach organizations.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 14, the steps further
comprising:displaying a map of a plurality of job openings associated
with the employer and locations of employees of the desired employee
type.

[0003]The present invention is related generally to methods and systems
for matching employers with job-seeking individuals, and more
particularly to methods and systems for proactively marketing job
openings to targeted groups of job-seeking individuals.

[0004]2. Introduction

[0005]Businesses today rely heavily on the Internet to advertise job
openings. Businesses often advertise job openings on job-posting websites
or Internet job boards. In recent years there has been a proliferation of
job-posting websites that typically allow a potential employer to post a
job opening. Often there is a fee associated with posting a job opening.
After job openings are posted to the job board, prospective employees may
be able to search the posted job openings. Prospective employees may have
an opportunity to apply to a job opening, or may have an opportunity to
contact a prospective employer.

[0006]With the current job boards, there are many challenges to
successfully marketing and filling job openings. For example, current job
boards rely on the prospective employee finding, viewing, and responding
to a job opening description. A prospective employee has to visit job
board websites, search for job openings, etc.

[0007]Furthermore, current job sites present other problems. Currently
there are many competing jobs sites. The competitive nature of the
industry results in a fragmented market segment, increased expense in
publicizing job sites, etc. Potential employees may navigate to one or
more sites, but may not peruse them all. As a result, for maximum
distribution employers must use many job sites. However, using many sites
can be expensive. Also, because a job board may be open to the general
public, employers may not be able to adequately target job openings to
prospective employees in desired groups, geographic locations, etc. As a
result, job openings may not be adequately filled.

[0008]Systems and methods consistent with embodiments of the present
invention address these and other drawbacks of conventional employment
systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009]Additional aspects of the invention will be set forth in part in the
description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the
description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

[0010]One embodiment of the present invention includes a method for
proactively marketing job openings. The method may include receiving data
about one or more job openings and geocoding the data about the one or
more job openings to determine a location for each of the one or more job
openings. The method may further include determining, for each of the one
or more job openings, one or more outreach organizations within a
predetermined distance from the location determined for the job opening
and presenting the received data about the one or more job openings to
the one or more determined outreach organizations.

[0011]Another embodiment of the present invention includes a system for
proactively marketing job openings via an employment clearinghouse in
communication with employers and outreach organizations serving potential
employees. The system may include a public access section for providing
information and services related to employment. The system may further
include a community section for receiving one or more job openings from
an employer, geocoding the one or more job openings to determine a
location for each of the one or more job openings, determining, for each
of the one or more job openings, one or more outreach organizations
within a predetermined distance of the location determined for the job
opening, and presenting the received one or more job openings to the one
or more determined outreach organizations.

[0012]Another embodiment of the present invention includes a computer
readable medium with computer readable code embodied therein for
providing employment services, the computer readable code, when executed,
causing a processor to receive data about a job opening from an employer,
wherein the data includes a preference indicator of a desired employee
type. The computer readable code, when executed, may further cause the
processor to determine location information of the job opening based on
the received data, identify, based on the preference indicator and the
location information, an outreach organization related to potential
employees of the desired employee type, and facilitate outreach to
potential employees of the desired employee type via the identified
outreach organization.

[0013]It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description
and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only
and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014]The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute
a part of this specification, illustrate several embodiments of the
invention and together with the description, serve to explain the
principles of the invention. In the drawings:

[0015]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for matching employers with
job-seeking individuals, consistent with an embodiment of the present
invention;

[0016]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an employment clearinghouse in greater
detail, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0017]FIG. 2A is a screen shot of an employment clearinghouse user
interface, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0018]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a community space in greater detail,
consistent with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0019]FIG. 3A-3I are exemplary screen shots of an employment clearinghouse
user interface, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0020]FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a management section in greater detail,
consistent with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021]FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a process for processing new outreach
organizations, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022]FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a process for proactively marketing new
job openings, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023]FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a process for creating a new job order,
consistent with an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0024]FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a process for geocoding location
information, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026]Finding and communicating with desirable candidates may be
difficult. For example, if prospective employees do not have Internet
access, they may not be able to view a job opening. In addition,
prospective employees may be unaware of the existence of the job board,
and therefore may not know to search the job board for job openings. Low
income employees often relied on community based organizations for job
assistance and referrals.

[0027]System Overview

[0028]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for matching employers with
job-seeking individuals, consistent with an embodiment of the present
invention. The system of FIG. 1 includes an employment clearinghouse 100,
employers 101, outreach organizations 102, and potential employees 103.
Systems consistent with the present invention may include any number of
employers 101, outreach organizations 102, and/or potential employees
103. To proactively market job openings to potential employees 103
through outreach organizations, employers 101 may utilize employment
clearinghouse 100.

[0029]Proactive marketing of job openings may include any process through
which employers 101 seek to reach potential employees 103, for example,
by using employment clearinghouse 100 and/or outreach organizations 102.
In certain embodiments of the present invention, employer 101 submits job
opening information (or job orders) to employment clearinghouse 100.
Employment clearinghouse 100 may then process the job orders to one or
more outreach organizations 102, such as those outreach organizations
located in the area of employer 101. In one embodiment, employers 101 may
provide job opening information to employment clearinghouse 100 through a
website. Alternatively, employers could provide job opening information
to employment clearinghouse 100 by telephone, e-mail, traditional mail,
fax, etc. Similarly, employment clearinghouse 100 may provide job opening
information to outreach organizations 102 through a website, by
telephone, by e-mail, by traditional mail, by fax, etc. Outreach
organizations may use any communication means to communicate information
about job openings to potential employees 103, including through use of a
website, by telephone, by e-mail, by traditional mail, by fax, by word of
mouth, etc.

[0030]Outreach organizations 102 may include a variety of organizations
associated with potential employees 103. In some embodiments, an outreach
organization may be physically located in the area of the job opening.
For example, outreach organizations may include non-profit organizations,
for profit organizations, government funded organizations, job services,
faith-based organizations, welfare organizations, ethnic-focused
organizations, government agencies, and/or organizations providing
services to disabled individuals and seniors.

[0031]Potential employees 103 may include diverse populations of
candidates. In certain embodiments, potential employees 103 may include
any individuals who turn to outreach organizations 102 for job
assistance, referrals, etc. For example, potential employees 103 may
include individuals with diverse cultural knowledge and language skills,
displaced workers, disabled individuals, veterans, seniors, economically
disadvantaged youth, etc. Potential employees 103 may also include
hard-to-reach applicants for jobs in certain salary ranges. For example,
potential employees 103 may include individuals in the $15,000 to $70,000
salary range, who may be difficult to reach using conventional employment
systems but who may be active in outreach organizations such as
faith-based groups or community groups. In another example, potential
employees 103 may be individuals who meet criteria under
government-sponsored programs, such as Work Opportunity Tax Credit
(WOTC)-eligible employees.

[0033]Employment clearinghouse 100 provides for receiving, storing, and
distributing job opening information. Employment clearinghouse 100 may
also provide the ability to integrate with other job boards, and thereby
receive and share information about job openings. Employment
clearinghouse 100 enables employers 101 to provide information about a
new job opening. Employment clearinghouse 100 also facilitates
distribution of information about new job openings to outreach
organizations 102, which can in turn distribute information to potential
employees 103. Employment clearinghouse 100 may also provide information
about a new job openings directly to potential employees 103. Employment
clearinghouse 100 may also permit assessment and collection of fees,
including, for example, job posting fees, tiered fees such as preferred
or featured postings, job broadcasting fees, job syndication fees,
cross-posting fees for posting to affiliated job boards, banner
advertising fees, print classified fees, resume related fees, etc.
Administrators of employment clearinghouse 100 may have the ability to
set different pricing some customers. Employment clearinghouse 100 and/or
outreach organization 102 may also provide career coaching resources,
access to career articles, websites, advice, training, etc.

[0034]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an employment clearinghouse in greater
detail, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention.
Employment clearinghouse 100 may include any hardware and/or software for
facilitating proactive job marketing. Employment clearinghouse 100 may
include, for example, public site 201, community space 202, and
management section 203. As one skilled in the art will appreciate,
employment clearinghouse 100 may include fewer or more components than
those depicted in FIG. 2 and the components may be implemented in
software and/or hardware.

[0035]Employment clearinghouse 100 provides functionality to employers
101, potential employees 103, and/or outreach organizations 102. For
example, a national or international employer 101 may use employment
clearinghouse 100 to manage job openings in many different locations.
Employment clearinghouse 100 may provide tracking, reporting, analysis,
and other functionality to assist employers 101 in managing
employment-related tasks. In certain embodiments, employment
clearinghouse 100 may provide a display for employers 101, such as a map
(e.g., a geographic information system (GIS) map) depicting the locations
of job openings, potential employees, employer locations, outreach
organizations, etc.

[0036]Employment clearinghouse 100 may also provide an applicant
Tracking/Candidate Management tool for employers 103 to track potential
employees 101. Data related to each candidate may be organized in a
candidate file that includes the candidate's resume, contact information,
an interaction history, results of any pre-screens, cover letters,
communications, notes added by the employer, etc. Each potential job
candidate can be easily managed with all of their information stored in
one area.

[0037]Employers may create pre-screen filters using employment
clearinghouse 100. These filters may allow employers to extract
information about a candidate prior to contacting him. Employment
clearinghouse 100 may enable employers to pose questions to potential
employees including, for example, short text, long text, true/false,
multiple choice, rate sets, etc. Point values may be associated with each
response so that applicants may be automatically ranked. Disqualifiers
may be assigned to questions so that unqualified candidates may be
automatically filtered out and stored, for example, in a separate
disqualified candidate list.

[0038]Employers may access a management template system via employment
clearinghouse 100. This template system may enable employers to reuse job
postings, pre-screen filters, automatic letters/notifications, etc. This
system may make posting jobs a simple task and save the employers
considerable time.

[0039]Employers may have use of an internal messaging system of employment
clearinghouse 100 that may enable employers and job seekers to
communicate. All messages sent from job seekers may be automatically
stored. This may keep the recruitment process highly organized for both
the employer and the job seeker. Additionally, employers are able to
communicate with job seekers without using email. Employers may construct
automated messages to be issued to job seekers via employment
clearinghouse 100.

[0040]FIG. 2A is a screen shot of an employment clearinghouse user
interface, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention. Public
site 201 may include public information such as information about the
clearinghouse service, information for employers 101, information for
outreach organizations 102, information for potential employees 103,
contact information, and other advertising information. Public site 201
may additionally contain a component for logging-in to community space
202. Employers 101 and/or outreach organizations 102 may gain access to
community space 202 by contacting employment clearinghouse 100, e.g., by
using contact information provided on public site 201. For example, an
administrator of employment clearinghouse 100 may provide an employer 101
with a user name and password to access community space 202. Public site
201 may also enable job seekers 103, outreach organizations 102, and/or
employers 101 to automatically create accounts.

[0041]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a community space in greater detail,
consistent with an embodiment of the present invention. Community space
202 comprises components such as outreach community space 301, location
information 302, job orders 303, position profiles 304, new job orders
305, outreach notification reports 306, outreach submission reports 307,
resource directory reports 308, and feedback page 309. The components of
community space 202 may be accessed, for example, via a drop-down list on
community space 202, may be presented to a user or administrator as
dialog boxes, may be presented as a series of links, may be implemented
in hardware and/or software, etc.

[0042]FIG. 3A is an exemplary screen shot of an employment clearinghouse
user interface, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention.
Outreach community space 301 may allow an authorized user, such as
employer 101, to view and edit account information; to view, edit, and
create new job orders; and to create, view, print, and export reports.

[0043]FIG. 3B is an exemplary screen shot of an employment clearinghouse
user interface, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention.
Location information 302 may allow an authorized user to input and edit
the data such as name, address, telephone number, and other contact
information for an employer 101. Location information 302 may be
presented to the user after the user selects "manage account information"
from outreach community space 301.

[0044]FIG. 3C is an exemplary screen shot of an employment clearinghouse
user interface, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention.
Job orders 303 may allow an authorized user to view position profiles and
to create new job orders, as described in more detail below. Job orders
303 may be presented to the user after the user selects "job orders" from
outreach community space 301.

[0045]FIG. 3D is an exemplary screen shot of an employment clearinghouse
user interface, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention.
Position profiles 304 may allow an authorized user to view profiles about
current positions, including, for example, position codes, titles, and
job descriptions for current job postings associated with the user. In
one embodiment, position profiles may be read-only to authorized users,
and modifying the contents of position profiles 304 may require
contacting employment clearinghouse 100. In other embodiments, employers
101 may edit, delete, and create position profiles.

[0046]FIG. 3E is an exemplary screen shot of an employment clearinghouse
user interface, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention.
New job orders 305 may allow an authorized user to create a new job order
describing a job opening. The new job order may include, for example, the
name of the potential employer, an employer code, an employer unit
number, a phone number, a fax number, a contact name, a contact email, an
interview site, a number of openings, a position, an hourly wage, weekly
hours, job benefits, shift, a job title, a job description, application
process information, a link to the employers website, license
requirements, affirmative action goals, comments, etc. Other fields may
also be provided, for example, for entering comments to an employment
clearinghouse administrator. In one embodiment, an employer may include
one or more outreach organization codes for a job opening. Outreach
organizations 102 may be tagged with one or more outreach organization
codes to designate the type of organization (e.g., non-profit, faith
based, etc.). Outreach organization codes may be selected from a list of
available codes provided by employment clearinghouse 100.

[0047]Employers may specify that only a subset of the job order
information may be accessible to outreach organizations. Employers may
also request a desired method of delivering job order information to
outreach organizations, a timeframe for responses, etc. Additionally,
employment clearinghouse 100 may compare new job orders to previously
created job orders and may eliminate duplicates, outdated job orders,
etc. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, new job orders 305 may
include fewer or more components than those depicted in FIG. 3E.

[0049]FIG. 3F is an exemplary screen shot of an employment clearinghouse
user interface, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention.
An outreach notification report 306 may include a list of outreach
organizations notified of a particular job opening. Outreach notification
report 306 may include a location, a start date and end date, and a list
of job orders that were submitted to outreach organizations 102. Outreach
notification report 306 may also provide the ability to export data, for
example, to spreadsheet files.

[0050]FIG. 3G is an exemplary screen shot of an employment clearinghouse
user interface, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention.
An outreach submission report 307 may include a list of job orders placed
by an employer. Outreach submission report 307 may include a location, a
start date and end date, and a list of submissions with corresponding
dates. Outreach submission report 307 may also provide the ability to
export data, for example, to spreadsheet files.

[0051]FIG. 3H an exemplary screen shot of an employment clearinghouse user
interface, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention. A
resource directory report 308 may include a list of outreach
organizations within a predetermined radius of an employers address.
Resource directory report 308 may include a location, employer
information, and a list of resources available, for example, within a
specified area relative to the location. The list of resources may
include, for example, an outreach organization name, code, address,
alternate address, city, state, ZIP code, and phone number. One skilled
in the art will realize that other outreach organization information
could also be included. Resource directory report 308 may also provide
the ability to export data, for example, to spreadsheet files.

[0052]Some reports may be accessible only by administrators of employment
clearinghouse 100. These reports may include, for example: all employer
activity reports, which report all activity; activity by employers
reports, which report activity for a specific employer; activity by state
reports, which report activity in a particular state; employers within
radius of outreach organization reports, which reports a list of all
employers within a specified radius of an outreach organization; outreach
organizations with missing or incorrect data reports, which report a list
of outreach organizations 102 for which employment clearinghouse 100 has
missing or incorrect data; outreach organization use reports, which
reports a list of outreach organizations contacted, etc. Reports may be
produced from a web program, and may be exported into spreadsheets.

[0053]FIG. 3I is an exemplary screen shot of an employment clearinghouse
user interface, consistent with an embodiment of the present invention.
Feedback page 309 may include a field for submitting an email address, a
submission type, and a field for submitting text based feedback. Feedback
page 309 may be used, for example, by employers 101, outreach
organizations 102, etc.

[0054]Community space 202 may also include a potential employee section,
which potential employees 103 may access after creating an account from
public site 201 and then logging-in. Potential employee section may
provide potential employees 103 the ability to search available jobs
openings, save a list of selected jobs, apply for jobs, save a list of
jobs applied to, create personal notes, send and receive messages, access
career coaching materials, create and store resumes, receive alerts about
new job openings, email job openings to other people, identify themselves
as members of target groups (e.g. veterans, etc.), etc. In some
embodiments, potential employees 103 may not need to create an account to
access some or all of these features.

[0055]Community space 202 may include an outreach organization section,
which outreach organizations 102 may access after creating an account
from public site 201 and then logging-in. Outreach organization section
may provide outreach organizations the ability to search available jobs
openings, assist potential employees 103 in job searching, save a list of
selected jobs, create notes, send and receive messages, access career
coaching materials, receive alerts about new job openings, email job
openings to other people, identify the organization as including members
of target groups (e.g. veterans, etc.), etc. In some embodiments,
outreach organizations 102 may not need to create an account to access
some or all of these features.

[0056]One skilled in the art will appreciate that the components depicted
as being part of community space 202 may be accessed from other parts of
employment clearinghouse 100 (e.g., from management section 203).
Furthermore, community space 202 may include fewer or more components
than are depicted in FIG. 3, the components may be combined or arranged
differently, and the components may be implemented in software and/or
hardware.

[0059]FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a process consistent with the present
invention for managing outreach organizations. In certain embodiments,
data about outreach organizations 102 may be stored in outreach
organization database 401, which may be frequently updated. Update
information may be received from many sources, including directly from an
outreach organization 102, through research solicited by an employer 101,
through research triggered by failed communications (e.g. by failed
faxes), through employment clearinghouse 100, etc.

[0060]To add a new outreach organization 102 to outreach organization
database 401, outreach organization database 401 is first accessed (step
501). This accessing may be done, for example, by an administrator of
employment clearinghouse 100, by a member of outreach organization 102,
etc. Accessing outreach organization database 401 may involve, for
example, logging-in to community space 202 or management section 203.
Information may then be entered for outreach organization 102 (step 502).
After information is entered for outreach organization 102, an outreach
organization designation code may be selected (step 503). An outreach
organization designation code may be used to designate a specific type of
outreach organization (e.g. a veteran's organization, an organization for
a minority group, etc.). An outreach organization may then be geocoded
(step 504). Geocoding an outreach organization, which is further
discussed below, involves determining geographical location information
for the outreach organization (for example, determining the latitude and
longitude of the outreach organization). A skilled artisan will
appreciate that the steps of FIG. 5 may be performed in different orders.

[0061]FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a process, consistent with the present
invention, for proactively marketing new job opening. After a new job
opening is identified (step 602), a record is established for the job
opening (step 603). The process of establishing a record for a job
opening is discussed in further detail with reference to FIG. 7. After
establishing a record for a job opening, the job opening is processed to
identify corresponding outreach organizations 102 (step 604). In some
embodiments, to identify outreach organizations 102, employment
clearinghouse 100 may compare employer location information with outreach
organization location information in outreach organization database 401.
Identifying outreach organizations may be done automatically, or it may
be performed manually by a user or administrator. The processing may
entail comparing certain variables including, for example, outreach
organization codes, maximum radius requirements, etc. The comparison may
search all outreach organizations within a specified radius from an
employer location, organizations of a certain type, organizations serving
a certain population, etc. The processing may limit the list of outreach
organizations to those organizations which meet the certain parameters,
etc. Information concerning the job opening may then be communicated to
the identified outreach organizations (step 605). Job opening information
may be communicated to the outreach organization via email, via
telephone, via a website, via traditional mail, via fax, or via any other
communication means. Employment clearinghouse 100 may facilitate sending,
by the outreach organization(s) 102, information to potential employees
103 by, for example, providing the information by website, by telephone,
by e-mail, by traditional mail, by fax, by advertising in group meetings,
or through other communication means (step 606). In some embodiments,
employment clearinghouse 100 may communicate directly with potential
employees 103.

[0062]FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a process consistent with the present
invention for creating a new job order. An employer 101 may access the
employment clearinghouse public site 201 (step 701). If employer 101 has
an account with the employment clearinghouse (step 702, YES), she may
login (step 704). If employer 101 does not have an account (step 702,
NO), she may create an account (step 703), and then login (step 704). The
user may select the select to enter information about a new job order
(step 705), for example, by selecting "Create Job Order" on the screen
shot of FIG. 3C. The user may then enter job information (step 706), for
example using the screen shown in FIG. 3E. The entered job information
may include, for example, a job description field, salary information,
employer industry information, job function information, employment type
information, job duration information, educational requirements
information, experience requirements information, job location
information, and other information. The employer may pay a fee for the
new job order (step 707), and may approve the job posting (step 708). In
some embodiments, an administrator of employment clearinghouse 100 may
provide assistance in developing and entering job information. In some
embodiments, an administrator of employment clearinghouse 100 may review
and approve new job orders.

[0063]In some embodiments, it may also be possible for an employer to fax,
email, upload, or otherwise send job opening information directly to
employment clearinghouse 100. In some embodiments a computer may process
information submitted by fax, email, or other communication means and
develop new job orders automatically from the information.

[0064]FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a process consistent with the present
invention for geocoding location information. A process similar to the
process shown in FIG. 8 can be used to geocode employer 101 location
data, outreach organization 102 location data, etc. In the geocoding
process, location information is received for one or more locations (step
801). Location information may include, for example, an address, a ZIP
code, etc. In one embodiment, the location information may be contained
in a spread sheet. In one embodiment, location information may be
verified for accuracy. The location can be geocoded, e.g. using a
geocoding program (step 802). The geocoding program may process address
information to determine a latitude and longitude of the location. The
latitude and longitude may then be associated with the location
information and stored with the location information (step 803).
Occasionally, geocoding in this manner may be unsuccessful. For example,
some addresses may not be located successfully. This could happen, for
example, if an address no longer exists. In this case (step 804, YES),
latitude and longitude information may be determined using only the ZIP
code portion of an address (step 805). Additionally, a geo result may be
determined and stored with the latitude and longitude information. The
geo result may be, for example, a code selected on the basis of the
latitude and longitude information. In one embodiment, if the latitude
and longitude result has six significant digits after a decimal point, a
first geo result is used, but if the latitude and longitude have less
than six significant digits after a decimal point, a second geo result is
used. In another embodiment, rather than using the geocoding program to
locate latitude and longitude information, this information may be
manually determined.

[0065]Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled
in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the
invention disclosed herein. For example, an employment clearinghouse
network could be used to provide other types of outreach to hard-to-reach
populations. An entity desiring to communicate information, such as
available low-cost healthcare services or changes to government programs
such as welfare, could submit information postings with an employment
clearinghouse. The information postings could be processed, for example,
to match the postings to desired individuals and/or outreach
organizations in the employment clearinghouse's network. In certain
embodiments, the information postings could be geographically targeted.
The employment clearinghouse could facilitate communicating information
postings to outreach organizations and/or individuals to facilitate
dissemination of information to hard-to-reach individuals.

[0066]In still other embodiments, the employment clearinghouse network
could be used to manage information about hard-to-reach individuals. For
example, an employment clearinghouse could use its network of outreach
organizations to collect information from individuals, determine metrics
about certain populations, assist individuals in participating in
programs, etc. Employment clearinghouse network could be used to target
information, including advertising, to certain individuals, employers,
and/or outreach organizations.

[0067]It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as
exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being
indicated by the following claims.